Looking back, I really just lost my damn mind that day school started.
Otherwise, why would I be getting depressed over a girl who technically "doesn't know me" yet?
Even though she looked exactly like "Utaha-senpai," his absolute favorite from his past life.
But in reality, this "Kasumigaoka Utaha" in front of him wasn't a senpai at all. Most of the time, she just quietly stayed in the classroom by herself.
She wasn't like the "senpai" who would constantly drop risqué jokes at 120 km/h, nor did she casually roast people while making innuendos.
Besides, she didn't even have that signature hairband.
So, she was just a girl who happened to have red eyes, black hair, loved novels, and liked wearing black thigh-high socks, just like "Utaha-senpai."
Yeah, it was definitely just because I was forcing myself to rewrite Hated by Life Itself from memory every day, which really dragged my mood down.
Once I finish Akane-san's commission, I'll write a few happier songs.
"Phew... The wind today is quite fierce."
Leaning back slightly, hands planted on the floor, Miyahito stretched his legs. Tilting his face up, he closed his eyes to feel the gentle breeze brushing against him.
"As expected, after playing basketball, I really don't want to sit through self-study in the classroom."
Stating his truancy so casually, completely lacking any guilt, Miyahito hummed along to a melody in his head, softly singing on the empty rooftop.
"so, everything that makes me whole, Ima kimi ni sasageyou, I'm Yours....."
Maybe the so-called "resonance between geniuses transcends time and space" really does exist.
Initially, when Kosaka Akane commissioned him for the Mechanical Crown anime theme songs, he hadn't thought much of it.
But the night Iori Namima delivered the original Mechanical Crown anime and related light novels, Miyahito just read the protagonist's character design and completely froze.
'Feels a lot like people from my past life talking about Guilty Crown...'
That was his first impression after pulling an all-nighter to binge Mechanical Crown.
But in his past life, while he watched anime, he honestly didn't remember much about Guilty Crown besides the two theme songs, the ending tracks, and the insert song famously known as the "legendary sword-drawing theme."
At most, he'd seen some Bilibili editors mash up those songs with random anime clips.
He didn't really know the actual plot of Guilty Crown.
Oh right, even if the plot was fuzzy, he did remember the kuudere female lead somewhat.
Otherwise, after seeing the kuudere, twin-tail, elegantly dressed female lead in Akane's Mechanical Crown manga, he wouldn't have immediately thought of Guilty Crown.
Well, thanks to the strong similarity between the two works, he wouldn't have to stress over negotiating an extension with Akane.
"「Shiawase ga aru nda ne」—this part should be sung like this... Hmm, what instrument should I use here?"
Pulling his schoolbag in front of him, Miyahito took out a sheet of staff paper and a pen, sitting cross-legged on the floor.
Carefully recalling the melodies buried deep in his memory, he occasionally hummed the tune and lyrics aloud.
Every time he locked in a lyric or melody, he immediately jotted it down on the staff paper in his hands.
And in this late-spring, early-summer afternoon, the playful breeze carried away the rooftop's stifling heat.
Along with the soft, humming melody.
"Even if I become something this world refuses to accept."
"I know better than anyone that you will never forget me."
"That is why I will offer everything I have."
"Right now, I give it all to you....."
...
'As expected, teenage boys are just walking hormone dispensers.'
Frowning, hugging her novel tightly to her chest, Kasumigaoka Utaha dragged her heavy steps up the stairs leading to the rooftop.
All he knows is how to bask in the girls' admiration.
Just giggling around, radiating that "disgusting" pheromone cloud.
I thought he was different from other guys blinded by their own egos, but in the end, he's just another walking flirt.
Hmph! I misjudged you.
Growing increasingly irritated, Utaha reached out. Assuming the rooftop would be empty, she prepared to push the heavy door open.
Faintly, a few gentle, a cappella notes drifted into her ears.
Instinctively, her hand hovering over the handle froze. The sullen irritation on her delicate features locked in place.
Who's singing? It's so beautiful... And the lyrics are gorgeous.
Deeply curious about which classmate was singing such an unheard, beautiful song on the rooftop, Utaha carefully pushed the door open, trying her best not to make a sound.
However, once the door opened, the figure still softly singing didn't immediately come into her line of sight.
But Utaha wasn't in a hurry.
Because the person who had been up here longer had already noticed his "uninvited guest."
"Huh? Kasumigaoka-san?"
"!"
Her wine-red eyes stared blankly at Aragaki Miyahito, who was hiding in a shady corner of the rooftop, looking back at her with equal surprise. Utaha's lips parted slightly.
But no sound escaped them.
The singer... was Aragaki-kun?
After a brief moment of shock, Utaha finally realized that the boy she'd never even properly spoken to had just called her by her surname. A blush instantly colored her flawless, pale cheeks.
Why... why does Aragaki-kun know my name?
At this moment, whether due to a sudden mental block or some other reason,
Utaha seemed to have completely forgotten that she had introduced herself to the entire school during the opening ceremony.
"H-hello, Aragaki-kun."
"Ah, yeah. Hello."
Wait, something feels off.
Mind slightly short-circuited, Miyahito awkwardly averted his gaze after exchanging greetings.
At the same time, he silently thought:
'Why does Utaha know my name?'
Likewise, whether he deliberately forgot it or just had a sudden lapse in memory,
Miyahito had completely ignored the fact that he was already a major figure in the freshman grade. In fact, across all four first-year classes, it was basically "everyone knows him, even if he doesn't know everyone."
So, isn't it completely normal for Kasumigaoka Utaha, a fellow freshman in the class right next door, to know his name?
While both internally pondered the exact same question—"How does he/she know my name?"—they stood in an inexplicable, heavy silence after their brief greeting.
Facing each other, one sitting on the floor, the other standing at the door, they remained frozen for a short while.
Utaha finally broke the silence.
"Um... were you the one singing just now, Aragaki-kun?"
Hearing the question, Miyahito froze for a few seconds. Then, blood rushed straight to his head.
His cheeks flushing uncontrollably, he opened and closed his mouth, stammering incoherently for a good while without managing a single complete sentence.
After failing several times to speak, a completely flustered Miyahito scrambled to his feet.
Frantically scooping up everything scattered on the floor into his arms, he kept his head down and scurried past the bewildered Kasumigaoka Utaha without uttering a word.
He practically tripped over himself as he bolted down the stairs.
Leaving Utaha alone on the rooftop, still completely confused about what had just happened.
Standing dumbly at the rooftop door for a while, reality finally crashed in. Utaha suddenly raised both hands, covered her face, and crouched down on the ground.
'W-what... what did I just do?!'
'Why did I ask something like that?!'
"Ugh—just kill me already!"
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